|
  |
|
|
Becoming an Examiner in England
How to Become an Examiner
Why do teachers become examiners?
Two reasons – money and experience. As an examiner you will come to understand the kind of things that examiners are looking for. You will find that some of the things you have taught your students will not gain credit and you will be able to change your teaching to accommodate the needs of exam mark schemes. Your knowledge of the subject will improve through reading candidate responses that do not fit the mark scheme.
Understanding how the chief examiner’s mind works enables you to predict the kind of responses that will be required to future questions. You can incorporate this into your teaching. What is involved in becoming an examiner?
You may have to attend training for new examiners. This could be a half hour before the main examiner standardisation meeting, two days pre-meeting training, or anything between.
All examiners have to attend a one day examiner standardisation meeting. At this meeting the mark scheme will be explained and you will be given sample scripts to mark.
Procedures after this vary, but usually you will be asked to mark more scripts, either sample or live ones, and send those to an experienced examiner to remark. This makes sure that your interpretation of the mark scheme is consistent and up to standard. You will need to send further scripts to a senior examiner at various stages in the marking process. You will need to fill in various forms, recording the marks for candidates as you go along. Can any teacher become an examiner?
Five years ago the examination boards relaxed their requirement that examiners should have taught the syllabus for three years before becoming an examiner. The probable reason for their relaxing this precondition was because of the shortage of examiners. There has been a large increase in the number of examiners required, but the number of teachers is constant. Do schools give you time off for examiner meetings?
This is usually given as paid time off because the school recognises the improvement in your teaching that will follow on from your examining experience. The examination boards pay the school a fee that provides a supply teacher to cover your absence. If you have more than four or five examiner meetings to attend during the year, you may be refused permission because of the disruption caused to your classes. How much are examiners paid?
It depends on the level of the examination. GCSE examiners are paid less than A2 examiners. Foundation level GCSE pays about £2 a script, Higher level about £3 a script. You will usually be given about 400 scripts, sometimes a smaller number for new examiners. Tax is deducted at source, so an examiner can expect to take home about £800 for three weeks’ work. It works out at about £15 an hour. Which exams should I apply to mark?
It is a good idea to mark the syllabus and subjects that you teach. You will be able to interpret the mark scheme better and your teaching will improve because of your extra insight into the way papers are marked. Foundation level GCSE papers are MUCH easier to mark than Higher level papers. Foundation level examiners are paid less per script, but they can mark more scripts per hour because there are fewer free response questions on the paper. You will usually only be appointed to mark A2 or AS level papers after you have gained experience as a GCSE examiner. Can I mark more than one paper at a time?
Each exam board will normally only appoint you to mark one paper at a time. There is nothing stopping you applying to mark papers for the different boards though. When you apply for the examining work you will not know the dates or locations of standardisation meetings. If appointed, you will be sent a letter, describing the amount of marking and exact paper you are being offered. This letter will include meeting dates and locations. Be careful that the meeting dates do not clash, because if you miss a meeting you will not be able to mark the papers. Is it stressful?
The examiner standardisation meetings are stressful. You have to concentrate 100% for six hours, because if your attention wanders, at all, your interpretation of the mark scheme will be unsatisfactory. Marking exam papers is boring work after the first 200 scripts. Meeting deadlines should not be that difficult if you only have one exam to mark at a time. How do you manage the marking of more than one paper simultaneously?
With difficulty. One year I was marking three exams in a four week period. Remembering the mark scheme is crucial to fast and accurate marking. I had one week where I only had one set of papers to mark, so I blasted away at those and did about 300 of the 400 I had. I then had examiner meetings for the other two exams. I did the required number of scripts to send off then continued marking the final 100 of the first exam. Once I had the feedback from senior examiners on the second two exams I worked on those, one paper at the weekend, the other from Monday to Friday. It was hard work, but I was reappointed to mark all three exams the following year, so my marking was obviously up to standard.
|
|
 |
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "Becoming an Examiner in England" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
